In the wake of reports Saturday that UCLA coach Ben Howland has been fired, the school released a statement saying that he has not been fired. / Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports

by Eric Prisbell and Daniel Uthman, USA TODAY Sports

by Eric Prisbell and Daniel Uthman, USA TODAY Sports

Speculation about the job status of UCLA men's basketball coach Ben Howland has been rampant all season, and it climaxed Saturday night with reports of the school firing him after 10 seasons. But the talk and speculation remains just that, for now, according to the school.

Reports of Howland's dismissal had been published by Alex Kline on TheRecruitScoop.com, a Rivals.com web site, and discussed during CBS and its partner networks' coverage of the NCAA tournament.

Howland's departure from UCLA appeared like an inevitability after 11th-seeded Minnesota beat sixth-seeded UCLA by 20 points late Friday night at the Erwin Center in Austin, Tex.

By the standards at most schools, Howland's on-court performance at UCLA has been sterling. He reached three consecutive Final Fours between 2006 and 2008. He has more Final Four appearances than all of the other current Pac-12 coaches combined (one). He won at least 25 games in five of his 10 seasons. And UCLA is fresh off a Pac-12 regular season title this season.

This season, however, had it share of adversity from the start. A lengthy NCAA investigation shadowed star freshman Shabazz Muhammad's debut. An early-season loss to Cal Poly dampened expectations and heightened scrutiny. And even after UCLA won the league regular season title, it saw second-leading scorer Jordan Adams go down with a broken foot in the final moments of a Pac-12 tournament win against Arizona.

During a 10-minute interview with USA TODAY Sports and Sports Illustrated following the loss to Minnesota, Howland spoke at length about how proud he was of his players for persevering through adversity all season. And before Adams was hurt, Howland's optimism for the NCAA tournament soared.

"I thought the team was really close to reaching ceiling," Howland said. "We just beat Arizona for third straight time. And we were really on our way. I was really confident about our chances in the tournament."

After Adams was hurt, Howland said he was "very subdued" because he knew how significantly the injury could affect his team. And his worst basketball-related fears were realized in the Minnesota game, which will now be the final dubious chapter of a tenure that also included tremendous success.